Sterling Community Master Plan - Greenville County

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Sterling Neighborhood Master Plan July 2010 1.0 Introduction and Background 1.1 Community History The history of Sterling is intricately tied to the history of Greenville. As home to several churches, the city’s first black high school, and the first local neighborhood developed exclusively for African-Americans, Sterling was a center of social, spiritual, and educational life for Greenville’s African-American community. From the beginning, the Sterling neighborhood and Sterling school had an intertwined history. In 1896 Dr. Daniel Melton Minus of the Silver Hill / John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church of Greenville established a school for African-Americans in the City of Greenville. Known originally as Greenville Academy, the small school grew quickly in enrollment and in 1902, moved to Greenville County. The new school was named Sterling Industrial College, after Mrs. E. R. Sterling who funded the education of Reverend Minus. Of special interest is that Mr. W. R. Sewell, one of Greenville’s leading black contractors, constructed the school. The overall funding of the school was an early example of racial cooperation in Greenville involving the leadership of both the black and white business community. Mr. Thomas F. Parker of Monaghan Mills and the founder of the Parker School District was the primary financier of the school building itself. He also was the developer of the first lots and streets in the neighborhood. He named the streets in honor of school trustees – Sterling, Middleton, Minus, Malloy and Valentine. Properties were sold only to black persons and purchasers were given 5-10 years to pay for the properties. Sterling High School Photograph, Courtesy of Greenville Cultural Exchange Center In 1929, the Greenville County School District purchased the building, renamed it Sterling High School, and reopened it as the first black public high school in the County. The school curriculum included basic educational courses, as well as technical training in various trades – masonry, carpentry, tailoring, upholstery, cosmetology, auto mechanics, homemaking, and cooking. Sterling High School became an educational and social anchor for the neighborhood and for Greenville’s African-American population. Small businesses grew around the school to serve the neighborhood. They clustered along Jenkins and Calhoun Streets and included a 1 Continuing the community legacy and leadership
Sterling Neighborhood Master Plan July 2010 florist, a laundry, and the Huddle — a restaurant that would be a central gathering place for the neighborhood for many years. The neighborhood and school grew to become one of the nerve centers for African-American life in Greenville. In many ways, the neighborhood itself looked after the young people from across the City who gathered in school each day. This “it takes a village to raise a child” approach made Sterling fertile ground to cultivate many community leaders, civil rights advocates, and respected professionals in Greenville and throughout the region and nation. Some of the wellknown graduates include: Reverend Jesse Jackson (civil rights advocate), Senator Ralph Anderson (State of SC), Dr. Thomas Kerns (Greenville County School District), Alberta Tucker Grimes (educator, creator of Greenville Head Start), Lieutenant Colonel Paul Adams (Tuskegee Airman and educator), Dr. J. Arthur Jones (educator and mathematician), Eskew Reeder (musician), The Dixie Hummingbirds (musicians), Theo Mitchell (attorney, SC legislator), Dr. Charles Whittenberg (Greenville pediatrician), Dr. Ruth Ann Butler (historian), and Greenville’s long time Mayor Pro-Tempore Lillian Brock Flemming, and County Councilwomen Xanthene Norris, and Lottie Beal Gibson. In 1967, a fire destroyed the historic school, leaving only the gymnasium, which still stands today as a cherished symbol of Sterling High School and its dynamic social influence. Without the school as its centerpiece, the Sterling neighborhood went through a period of decline as many families dispersed elsewhere in Greenville. Straddling the City Limit line for Greenville further complicated providing improvements and services to the neighborhood. The remains of the high school itself became the Sterling Community Center, which provides senior, child, and youth services to the greater Sterling area. Today the neighborhood remains a symbolic center of African-American history in Greenville. More than a symbol, though, the neighborhood is still a home to many families and individuals from all walks of life. 1.2 Grassroots Community Revitalization Over the past two decades, there have been several initiatives by interested residents, community agencies, and church groups in working toward improvements in the Sterling Neighborhood. Work began in the 1980s and 1990s as the United Way helped create a grassroots neighborhood association and the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority began rehabilitation work to houses within the community. This group, the Concerned Citizens of Sterling, remains a key force in the neighborhood today. It was also during that time that Fourth Presbyterian Church began working with the residents of the neighborhood. The Day of Healing/Day of Hope celebration was a product of this partnership. In 2001 Christ Church Episcopal solidified its partnerships with the neighborhood with the completion of the Sterling Hope Center which has evolved into an after school program serving children in the community. Minus Chapel and Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, both churches within Sterling, are also involved in the neighborhood’s future. 2 Continuing the community legacy and leadership
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STERLING NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN GUIDEL
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Sterling Neighborhood Design Guidel
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Appendix B Funding Matrix
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Sterling Neighborhood Supplemental
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Sterling Community Master Plan - Greenville County

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